US stocks hold near their records in early trading

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is hanging near its records following some better-than-expected updates on the economy and a mixed set of profit reports from big U.S. companies. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 81 points, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to its record set the day before. PepsiCo rose 7% after the beverage and snack giant’s second-quarter sales and profit topped Wall Street projections. The world’s largest chipmaker, TSMC, reported huge increases in sales and profit from a year ago, sending its stock up 3.5%. Netflix reports after the closing bell.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Wall Street appears calm after President Donald Trump walked back his earlier threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged before the opening bell Thursday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%. Nasdaq futures rose less than 0.1%, essentially flat.

Trump has harshly criticized Powell and his Fed colleagues for the decision to stand pat on interest rates at a time when the economy is broadly healthy and unemployment is low. Trump’s new complaint about Powell — which he says could be grounds for firing the central bank chief — is about cost overruns on the $2.5 billion renovation project at the Fed’s Washington headquarters.

Wall Street loves lower rates because they goose prices higher for stocks and other investments, and Trump himself has been clamoring for the Fed to cut more quickly. But Powell has insisted he wants to wait for more data about how Trump’s stiff tariffs will affect the economy and inflation.

Markets, as well as the dollar, took a quick dive Wednesday on reports that Trump was talking about terminating Powell, but largely recovered after he appeared to walk back those sentiments.

A number of companies early in the earnings season have been reporting strong performances, even as they cite uncertainty about the near future due to the potential impacts of Trump’s tariffs.

PepsiCo shares rose 2% before the bell Thursday after the beverage and snack giant’s second-quarter sales and profit topped Wall Street projections. PepsiCo reaffirmed its April guidance, which projected lower full-year profit than previous forecasts due to increased costs from tariffs and a pullback in consumer spending.

The world’s largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), reported huge increases in sales and profit from a year ago, sending its stock up 3.4% in early trading. However, TSMC, a major supplier for Nvidia, warned that “uncertainties and risks from the potential impact from tariff policies exist.”

Shares of United Airlines, which reported after the bell Wednesday, dipped 1.6% overnight after the carrier’s second-quarter revenue came in a touch lower than expected. United also cut its full-year profit guidance.

Also falling early Thursday are shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland and Ingredion, makers of high fructose corn syrup. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in its flagship soft drink in the U.S. at his suggestion — though the company has yet to confirm that.

Ingredion tumbled almost 6% early Thursday, and Archer-Daniels-Midland fell 3%.

Netflix reports earnings after markets close.

New data on jobs and retail sales are due early Thursday as well.

In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX gained 0.8%, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.9% and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.4%.

Asian markets also were mostly higher.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 39,901.19 after the government reported a trade deficit for the first half of the year as Japan’s exports to the United States took a hit from Trump’s tariffs.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed early gains to close down 0.1% at 24,498.95, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4% to 3,516.83.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.9% to 8,639.00.

In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 0.2% to 3,192.29.

India’s Sensex lost 0.3% while the SET in Bangkok jumped 3.3% on strong gains for market heavyweights like Airports of Thailand and Delta Electronics.

U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 30 cents to $66.68 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 6 cents to $68.58 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 148.73 Japanese yen from 147.89 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1579 from $1.1641.